It Must Have Been the Mistletoe
by Sehrezad
Summary: Preparing for Christmas dinner with the team, Lindsay is remembering a Christmas Eve from years ago and the first kiss she shared with Don under a mistletoe. Lindsay/Flack and a little Mac/Stella


**It Must Have Been the Mistletoe**

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything connecting to this show and I certainly don't own the song._

_Hey, there! I found this story on my computer; I can't even remember when I wrote it. I thought I'd post it for the Lindsay/Flack shippers out there. Enjoy! It is told from Lindsay's POV._

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><p>I'm standing in the kitchen peeling potatoes. Two more to go then I put it on the oven and then I'm ready. It's high time, I must add, as I've been stuck in the kitchen for only God knows how long. Please somebody remind me why I applied for hosting the Christmas dinner this year! Oh yeah, it wasn't me. It was my very enthusiastic husband whose enthusiasm lasted only to the kitchen door. I don't want to complain. I mean I like doing this whole being-a-good-housewife-stuff and all but my back is starting to kill me.<p>

"Mommy, is it ready?" I hear my five-year-old daughter asking me. She's been sitting in front of the oven since we put the muffins in looking through the glass. It must be very interesting because it takes up all of her interest. I'm amused. She can actually concentrate on something more than five minutes.

"Just a second, Honey, and we'll take a look at it, all right?" I look at her and see her nod.

I finish up the potatoes and put them to boil. Lizzie stands up excitedly and looks up at me with expectant eyes. This is the first cookie that she had made herself. Well, almost.

"Can we take a look at it now?"

"Go ahead!"

She looks into the oven and a big smile appears on her face. I'm standing next to her and also lean down to peep in. I think they are ready so I grab a kitchen towel and take them out. Now she is kneeling on the chair next to the counter and looking down on her work.

"Can I take them out?" She doesn't even look at me. She seems mesmerized by the cookies.

"You can if you want to burn your hands. But if I were you, I'd wait a little," I say smiling at her impatience. She is so much like her father.

I begin to wash the dishes which are scattered in the kitchen. For some minutes there is complete silence in the kitchen and we can hear Don and the twins laughing at a cartoon in the living room. But then I hear a little noise. It's Lizzie humming some Christmas carol. It takes me a while but finally I recognize it and begin to sing it along with her humming.

_It must have been the mistletoe  
>The lazy fire, the falling snow<br>The magic in the frosty air  
>That feeling everywhere…<em>

She is a little surprised when I join in but she continues humming. I'm silently wondering how a five-year-old can know this song. And then it hits me. This is my favorite Christmas song. She could hear it countless times. Yes, this is the song that I cannot get bored with. This song reminds me of the day when I realized that I began to fall for Detective Don Flack. Yeah. And the best thing? He fell for me, too. Hard.

It was exactly seven years ago. Mac was in an unusually good mood. Okay, at first he was just the plain old Mac we all know but then… I don't know. Maybe it was because of Stella. Who am I kidding? It's always been Stella. But it's not that important now. It was Christmas Eve and the team was stuck in the Lab. Yeah, it sucked… Until Don showed up. Then it sucked even more! Apparently he was bored out of his mind at home alone and decided to give us a visit and annoy the hell out of us. It wasn't that difficult as we had some work to do and he didn't. So the point is that he was just wandering around making sure that he seemed bored and suffering enough while we were trying to do some work done once stuck in the Lab. After a little while he managed to make us throw our work on the table. (Not literally of course... or maybe. I might have heard Danny slap something down. But I'm not sure. However, he was quite frustrated.) But this isn't important, either.

What I want to say is that finally we ended up in the break room. Even Mac! I think that at that point only Stella tried to cling to the feeling of joyfulness and she was looking for a radio station which played Christmas Songs. It wasn't that difficult given that it was Christmas Eve. Nevertheless, she was crouching in front of the Hi-Fi system for quite a while. Thinking back this might have been just a stress release activity on her part and even she had given up on the Christmas spirit.

So, she was crouching on the floor, Danny was circling in the room sometimes banging his head into the wall murmuring something under his breath. I'm not sure that I want to know what he had said then. And yes, I know. After a while it felt quite creepy but at that time nobody gave it any thought. Hawkes slumped into a chair and looked totally helpless while Mac was sitting next to him his full attention on Stella. Strange, huh? Oh, and of course, I was there, too. I took up all of the couch. It was cozy.

That was when a totally cheerful Don appeared in the door.

"Hey guys! Are you up to a snowball fight?" he asked. His voice was annoyingly happy. I lifted up my head from the coach with a groan and looked at him. I might have been annoyed by him but at that moment I found him incredibly cute. But even that wasn't enough for me to move.

But it was good enough for Danny, who, without missing a beat in his strolling, started towards the door. This time I could hear his murmuring quite well. It was something along the line of "Of course, snowball fight. Why not? Sure. Snowball fight. Let's go". He walked with such determination that even Don's presence in the doorway could not stop him.

Don looked after his friend satisfied then turned to Mac expectantly his boyish smile still on his face. Mac hesitated for a while but suddenly Stella's head snapped up. "Snowball fight?" she asked while a beaming smile appeared on her face. "I'll get my coat." And with that she left the room, too. By that time I had sat up on the couch. I looked at Mac questioningly. After all we were at work, we should have worked. "Come on, Linds. Work can wait for a few hours." I blinked once or twice as I saw a smile on Mac's face that I had never seen before. He also left for the locker room to get his coat. As for myself, I slowly stood up then tapped Hawkes' shoulder as he seemed to have dozed off then started towards the door grabbing my coat from the hook on the way.

In the door I had to stop, though, because I bumped into an obstruction. I looked up and found Don's piercing blue eyes smiling at me mischievously. "Are you ready, Monroe? I will beat you mercilessly." I took up a defiant expression and prepared a good retort when I heard Sheldon behind me silently pointing out that we were standing under the mistletoe. And guess what? At that moment I felt Don's lips on mine. I was surprised to say the least. Too bad that I had no time to respond to his kiss as Mac and Stella appeared behind Don and they didn't hesitate to make their presence known. We jumped apart quickly. I think I couldn't have been redder at that moment. Fortunately Stella seemed quite eager to get out into the snow so we were spared the embarrassing remarks. We started towards the door. Stella was in such a hurry that she was ahead of us but suddenly she stopped and we almost bumped into her. Slowly she turned around. The previous glint in her eyes disappeared and she appeared disappointed. "But there is no snow outside." She stated sadly. I couldn't help it, I laughed right into her face. She was so adorable at that moment. Mac gently grabbed her shoulders and led her outside. We followed and took in the beautiful white scenery. It was still snowing gently. Apparently Stella hadn't looked out of the window in a while. Her jaw dropped slightly but then something hit her in the face. We looked in the direction from where the snowball had come and saw Danny – without a coat – behind quite a great amount of snowball. Apparently he didn't waste any time while we were still inside. Our little group looked at each other… Then the fight began.

We ended up rolling in the snow. I began to feel like as if I were back in kindergarten. You know when the boys show their affection by pulling your ponytail. I just say this because that was Don's way to show me that he was interested. As a result I got soaked from head to toe. It was a fantastic evening and one that nobody would ever forget. We can still remember Ronny, the retarded snowman, who Stella and Mac adopted for the winter. Poor thing, he was quite a miserable creature. We suggested Mac that they should adopt Danny as well…

Oops, I took quite a journey down on memory lane. Lizzie is standing in front of me and trying to get my attention.

We get the muffins and put them on a tray. And I feel so proud when I see my little girl almost running to the living room with the tray in her hands to show the cookies to her father and brothers. I take the potatoes from the fire then follow her and sit down next to Don. He instantly puts his arm around me and pulls me closer while saying something like this: "Wow, Sweetie, these are really good". They must be because his mouth is full with muffins and there is another one in his hand.

I watch my kids for a little while grabbing the muffins one after the other but then I realize that it might have been a bad idea to give it to them before dinner. But what can I do now?

"Alright, kids! Spare some room for dinner, too, okay?" I stand up taking the plate from the coffee table in spite of the loud protest from the father of my children. I swear sometimes he can be worse than the kids together! And believe me, it says something!

"Cut it Flack!" I tell him dismissively while heading for the kitchen. "Oh!" I turn back to look at him while thinking about what to tell him. I don't really know which is better: to send him to dress the kids or to ask him to set the table. "Would you set the table, please!" Maybe an awfully set table is better than the kids dressed up like hippies.

It doesn't take long for the others to arrive and suddenly the house is filled with happy chatter and laughter. And as I'm looking around the dinner table, I can't help it but my heart is swelling with happiness. Once again that Christmas Eve of seven years ago comes into my mind. Well, we've made a long road since then. The kids are the best proof of that…

After dinner we are sitting in the living room chatting silently. Even the kids calmed down a little after having eaten so much. But suddenly Don appears in the door dressed up in his winter coat and gives us his infamous smile.

"Hey, Guys! Who is up for a snowball fight?" he asks cheerfully. The kids are suddenly up and running for the door squealing excitedly. Well, apparently we don't have much choice in the matter and Stella realizes this, too, because she is up, too, trying to collect her kids before they would be out of the door without any coat.

I get up with a sigh and by the time I get to the kids, Don and the guys are already out of the door. Well, except for Mac, who is like a good father – and a husband I must add –, is there to help Stella with their kids.

Finally I manage to let the kids out into the snow and while I'm turning back to get my coat and join them, I find myself humming that song again.

Suddenly a pair of arms sneaks around my waist while I'm dragged into the doorway. In the doorway Don turns me to face him and by the sparkling of his eyes, I already know that he is up to something. And I'm so right. He looks up and I look up, too. And there it is. The mistletoe is hanging above us and Don is already leaning in for his kiss. Before we would meet, though, he stops.

"Are you ready, Mrs. Flack? I will beat you mercilessly." I kiss him there and then so passionately that we don't even notice Lizzie standing right next to us.

"Mommy! Daddy! Are you coming?" she asks us impatiently and I smile down at her while extracting myself from Don's arms.

"Of course, Sweetie." I tell her and scoot her up. "Come on then. We have to beat the crap out of Daddy." With that we start towards the door to join the others outside, and when I hear Don complaining from under the mistletoe about my dirty language, I laugh out loud.

**The End**

_Merry Christmas!_


End file.
